College & Research Libraries News (C&RL News) is the official newsmagazine and publication of record of the Association of College & Research Libraries, providing articles on the latest trends and practices affecting academic and research libraries.

About The Author

Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@email.unc.edu

Fast Facts

Gary Pattillo

Wikipedia edits

Wikipedia recently celebrated its 15th birthday. The single article with the most revisions since the beginning of Wikipedia is “George W. Bush” with 45,912 edits. Following close behind is “List of WWE personnel” with 43,265 edits. “United States” comes in third, followed by “Wikipedia,” “Michael Jackson,” and “Jesus.”

The Opportunity Project

The Opportunity Project is a new open data effort to improve economic mobility for Americans. It contains a combination of federal and local datasets in an easy-to-use format. The intent is for software developers and community partners to gain access to the data, build new tools, and connect with others. The project is facilitated by the U.S. Census Bureau. Some projects already available are Baltimore Explorer, diversitydatakids.org, Open Data Network, and a National Equity Atlas.

Google Dot Org

Google.org is the charitable arm of Google. It aims to fund projects that use technology to “combat humanity’s biggest challenges.” Current projects include fighting the Zika virus, supporting racial justice innovators, DonorsChoose.org, and GiveDirectly—a program for direct electronic cash transfers to the poor. Each year, Google.org donates $100 million in grants, 80,000 hours of labor, and $1 billion in products.

Gender disparities in education

“Almost 16 million girls between the ages 6 and 11 will never get the chance to learn to read or write in primary school compared to about 8 million boys if current trends continue, according to a new report from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Gender disparities remain highest in the Arab States, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and West Asia.” The UNESCO eAtlas of Gender Inequality in Education provides about 100 interactive maps and charts showing the educational pathways of girls and boys in more than 200 countries and territories.

International doctoral and master’s students

“One in ten students at the master’s or equivalent level is an international student in OECD countries, rising to one in four at the doctoral level. Almost 60 percent of international doctoral students in OECD countries are enrolled in science, engineering, or agriculture. The United States hosts 38 percent of international students enrolled in a program at the doctoral level in OECD countries. Luxembourg and Switzerland host the largest proportion of international students, who make up more than half of their total doctoral students. International master’s and doctoral students tend to choose to study in countries investing substantial resources in research and development in tertiary educational institutions. Of all international students enrolled at the master’s or doctoral level across OECD countries, the majority (53 percent) are from Asia, and 23 percent are from China alone.”